Professor Andra Gillespie of Emory University is pleased to announce the publication of her new edited volume, Whose Black Politics? Cases in Post-Racial Black Leadership, by Routledge Press. This volume uses accessible language and cutting-edge research to provide a much-needed, academic perspective on the rise of black politicians largely born after the Civil Rights Movement. How does being a beneficiary of the movement alter one’s perspective on race politics? Are all young, black politicians similar in outlook and policy positions? Does the election of Barack Obama portend a new era of black political unity, or will there be greater intra-racial policy contestation?

This volume answers these questions and more by providing in-depth case studies of 10 leading young black politicians (plus one important chapter about the underrepresentation of young black women). Through these case studies, readers will be able to consider how issues such as intersectionality, strategic campaigns, dynastic politics and the normative implications of deracialization affect candidate success and the debate over civil rights policy in the United States. There is something in this book for everyone, from the student to the political junkie to the general reader. Buy it today!

Praise for Whose Black Politics?

Scholars and observers of African American politics will want to take note of this volume. Over the past decade, a new generation of African American leaders has emerged on the political landscape. With them have surfaced old and new questions about the state of black politics. This volume is one of the first works to systematically analyze these new leaders and their political styles. Professor Gillespie and her contributors offer fresh theoretical insights and a compelling framework and typology for studying this next wave of African American politicians. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the contemporary black politics and its significance for broader American politics.
—Kerry L. Haynie, Duke University

These empirically sagacious and theoretically provocative case studies are the best work yet on the transformations in African American politics that produced Barack Obama.”
—Robert C. Smith, San Francisco State University

Whose Black Politics is an important text that tracks a generational shift in black politics. Gillespie offers a compelling analysis of how we might understand the transition of black politicians from grassroots activists to Harvard trained attorneys. Students of black politics will learn a lot and find much to debate from Gillespie’s work.
—Mark Sawyer, University of California Los Angeles